HISTORIC human remains have been discovered during archaeological works as part of the King’s Island Flood Relief Scheme.
The archaeological excavation was carried out by a team of archaeologists from Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit (ACSU), under ministerial consent, on the site of the former Limerick City Gaol at Merchant’s Quay.
The project is being undertaken by Limerick City and County Council in partnership with the Office of Public Works (OPW).
In this early stage of the construction programme, an archaeological excavation has been undertaken near the civic buildings on Merchant’s Quay and there are further archaeological sites to be excavated within the scheme.
The former city gaol site, where the historical remains were discovered, operated between 1813 and 1904, after which the gaol complex became Geary’s biscuit factory. Geary’s factory, and the remains of the city gaol facing the River Shannon, were demolished in the late 1980s to make way for the civic offices.
Findings include the walls and other structural remains of the gaol, including interior buildings and boundary walls. The site of a possible treadmill – a machine where several prisoners were forced to walk as a form of hard labour – was also uncovered, alongside the prison’s hospital and yard.
The human remains appear to date to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century when the site had been established for the new gaol. Preliminary research suggests they may be the remains of people who died or were executed either just before the gaol was built, or during its construction.
